Slap

Published on
29/09/2025 – 16:54 GMT+2

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The sword of Damocles hanging for several months over the global film industry located outside the US appears to have fallen: US president Donald Trump announced on Monday that he wants to impose a 100% tax on films made abroad.

“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!” Trump wrote on his social media Truth Social, adding: “Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT.”

In May 2024, Trump authorised the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to slap a 100% tariff on all movies not produced in the US.

Representatives of the EU film industry who spoke to Euronews feared at the time that they might be overlooked by the EU in its trade negotiations with the US.

Since then, a trade agreement concluded in July made no mention of the film industry – a service sector not covered by blanket tariffs of 15% that were slapped on all US-bound EU goods.

The EU film industry faces criticism from major American streaming platforms which claim EU rules are too protective of the interests of the European industry.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), which represents US film, television, and streaming industries, has its sights set on the EU legislation imposing quotas requiring video on demand services operating in the EU to reserve 30% of their catalogue for European work and obligations to invest in European works made by EU member states. They had written to the Trump administration in March 2024 to defend their cause.

In 2023, 4.8 million European movies were screened in the US, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The European Commission has been approached for comment.

Sept. 26 (UPI) — Amazon has reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that is raising concerns from Democrats who say the tech giant was given a slap on the wrist.

The FTC announced the settlement Thursday in a case that was brought against Amazon in June 2023 during the Biden administration.

The settlement resolves allegations that Amazon misled millions of Americans to enroll in its Prime subscription via deceptive user interfaces and then made it difficult for them to cancel.

The announcement was made days after the trial began. The agreement requires approval by a district judge before it can go into effect.

“The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription,” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

“Today, we are putting billions of dollars back into Americans’ pockets, and making sure Amazon never does this again.”

Amazon, however, claims it did nothing wrong, and the settlement makes this issue no longer a distraction.

“Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” it said in a statement.

“We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for consumers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world.”

Under the agreement, Amazon will pay a $1 billion civil penalty, which the FTC said was the largest ever in an FTC rule-violation case, as well as refund $1.5 billion to consumers, the second-highest restitution award obtained by the FTC.

Despite the agreement’s benchmark, Democrats are saying the monetary compensation is not enough as Prime aided Amazon in generating $11.7 billion in subscription services in the first quarter of this year alone. It also does not hold executives accountable, they said.

“The Trump administration’s settlement fails to hold Amazon executives accountable for their actions,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a statement.

“This fine is less than 1% of Amazon’s revenue last year — it’s effectively a slap on the wrist.”

Lina Khan, the former FTC chairwoman, who brought the case against Amazon, described the settlement as “rescuing” Amazon from being found liabel in the trial and allowing it “to pay its way out.”

“A $2.5 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and, no doubt, a big relief for the executives who knowingly harmed their customers,” she said in a statement.

Tesco Mobile, EE, Vodafone, Sky Mobile, O2 and Three all have different policy when it comes to how much customers pay when using their mobiles in the EU post-Brexit

Tesco Mobile has extended its free-roaming policy so customers can use their minutes, texts and data for no extra cost when in Europe.

Since leaving the EU, people living in the UK have been excluded from the bloc’s 2022 Roaming Regulations, which ban mobile operators from charging customers extra when they travel into other EU countries with their phone.

While some providers have allowed their customers to keep the perk, others have started charging considerable sums. Today, Tesco Mobile announced that it will not charge its users extra for texts, calls, and data made across 48 EU destinations “into 2026 and beyond.” Until this point, Tesco Mobile had hinted that the perk would end at the beginning of next year.

Laura Joseph, chief customer officer at Tesco Mobile, said: “We know how important it is for families to stay connected—whether you’re sharing holiday snaps, checking in with loved ones, or finding your way around a new city. That’s why we’re proud to extend our roaming offer, giving customers the freedom to use their UK data, minutes, and texts across 48 destinations in the EU and beyond, at no extra cost. With no setup, no hidden fees, and no stress, it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re away.”

Here is a rundown of the other major mobile providers in the UK and how much they charge for roaming in EU countries.

Under EE you can use your minutes, texts and data allowances in its European roaming zone – which includes most countries on the Continent – for £2.50 a day (up until midnight UK-time). You don’t need to do anything to opt in. If you use your allowances you’ll pay £2.50 for that day, and if you don’t, you won’t be charged anything. You can also buy a £10 ‘roam home’ seven day package.

The phone company offers free data roaming in the EU, so your data (subject to roaming limit), minutes and text allowances will work in the Europe Zone, just like they do at home.

If your UK monthly data allowance is over 25GB, you’ll have a roaming limit of 25GB when roaming in the firm’s Europe Zone. This means you can use up to 25GB of your allowance at no extra cost. O2 sends customers a text if they’re getting close to the limit, and again if they reach it. Then they can buy a ‘bolt on’.

For Pay Monthly customers, it’s a daily charge of £7 per day for unlimited calls, texts and date. For Pay As You Go customers, it’s a daily charge of £1.99.

Those customers whose plans started on or after October 1, 2021 can unlock their data, call and text for a daily roaming charge. For Pay Monthly customers, roaming costs £2 a day in Europe and £5 a day in Go Roam Around the World destinations. The Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man are excluded from the daily roaming charge.

If you’re on a Three Your Way plan, it comes with up to 56 days of roaming included. If you run out – or you’re on a Standard plan – you can also buy three, seven, or 14-day Go Roam Passes. With a £5 a day Data Passport, you can get unlimited data to use when roaming.

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If your plan doesn’t have inclusive roaming in the firm’s Europe Zone – which includes all European countries other than Ireland, the Isle of Man, Iceland and Norway – then it will cost you £2.57 a day to roam. You can reduce this cost with a European Roaming pass, available as £15 for eight days or £20 for 15 days (a cost increase of roughly 25% in two years)

A day starts from the time when roaming is detected and lasts for 24 hours. For example, if roaming is detected at 10am, the daily roaming fee would be valid until 10am the next day. If you bought your plan before 11 August 2021, roaming is included up to 25GB of data usage.

‘Roam Like Home’ is available to all BT Mobile customers at no extra cost. It lets you to use your minutes, texts and data allowances within our Roam Like Home zones without paying extra roaming charges.

From 15 June 2017, if your plan gives you 20GB or more of data each month, a surcharge may be applied if you use more than 15GB, while roaming, in one billing cycle.

GiffGaff has one of the most generous policies out there. The company’s plans can be used in the EU and selected destinations just as customers would use them at home and at no extra cost. If you opt to pay as you go and use credit instead, data, calls and texts will be charged at the firm’s pay-as-you-go UK rates while you roam in the EU.

There’s a fair use limit on data of 5GB. If you go over it’ll cost 10p/MB, or you can start a new plan early which will give you another 5GB allowance.

The company has a roaming passport which costs £2 a day and lets you access your UK data, calls and text allowances in over 55 popular holiday destinations, including the EU, the USA and Australia and more.

FEARS are growing that Rachel Reeves could slap a new tax on people’s homes to replace stamp duty and council tax.

The Chancellor is studying plans for a levy on houses worth over £500,000, according to The Guardian.

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The paper said the Treasury is looking at a “proportional property tax” which would be paid when owners sell their homes.

It claimed the shake-up could also pave the way for a new local levy to replace council tax, which is still based on 1990s property values.

But Treasury officials last night insisted that while tax reform is being explored, the details – including any threshold or rate – have not been decided.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “The best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy – which is our focus.

“Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms, which are expected to grow the economy by £6.8bn and cut borrowing by £3.4bn.

“We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible, which is why at last Autumn’s Budget, we protected working people’s payslips and kept our promise not to raise the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, employee National Insurance, or VAT.”

The Sun reported yesterday that homeowners would be forced to hand over £82,000 to the taxman thanks to Reeves’ inheritance tax raid.

Inheritance tax is charged on all assets above the £325,000 threshold, which is called the nil-rate band.

Anything above this threshold is charged at 40%, but your tax-free allowance rises by £175,000 if you leave your home to a direct descendant, such as a son, daughter or grandchild.

Currently, pension pots are exempt from inheritance tax – but this will all change from April 2027, when they will suddenly be subject to the 40% levy, following a tax grab announced in last year’s October Budget.

The change is expected to increase the number of estates paying death duties from 4% to 9.7%, dragging thousands of people into the tax net.

New analysis by Quilter shows that grieving families could face a nasty bill sting following the changes.

AN expert has analysed the awkward moment Brigitte Macron “refuses” her husband.

It comes several months after she appeared to slap Emmanuel as they prepared to disembark a plane in Vietnam.

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Emmanuel and his wife Brigitte have arrived in the UK ahead of tonight’s state banquet at Windsor Castle.

However, footage of the pair arriving suggests there could be tension between them according to body language expert Judi James.

After Emmanuel is safely on solid ground, he turns around to offer his arm to his wife as she descends the stairs from the plane.

Yet Brigitte refuses Emmanuel’s gesture, leaving him awkwardly holding his arm in mid-air.

The pair then begin to greet members of the Royal Family who have been awaiting their arrival.

Judi said: “Macron appeared determined to take a joyfully tactile approach to everyone he met today, with exception of his wife.

She added that Brigitte looked “less charmed by her husband’s attempts at a more tactile approach, refusing his offer of a hand to help as she stepped down from the plane”.

While Brigitte does smile at her husband once she’s by his side, the couple quickly begin greeting their hosts.

Emmanuel leads, greeting Prince William first.

Judi said: “His greeting ritual for William was almost intimate enough to suggest he was family.

“He clasped William’s hand for several long seconds, using his left hand to perform a volley of add-on pats and clasps as he did so, each one suggesting close bonding and familiarity.”

After placing his hand over William’s, he then moves it to the prince’s lower arm.

This “intensified the familiarity signals” according to Judi, as Emmanuel moves his hand above William’s elbow before moving it back down to the lower arm.

Emmanuel then moves on to greet Kate, while Brigitte in turn greets William.

In a “creakingly out of date ritual” according to Judi, Emmanuel leans down to kiss the back of Kate’s hand.

Judi said: “This gesture looks gallant but it leaves the woman being kissed with little option but to giggle prettily.”

While Emmanuel leaned down to kiss Kate’s hand, Charles instead raises Brigitte’s hand to his lips, as he “gazes adoringly” Judi said.

Calling back to the rumoured Vietnam slap, Judi said: “Was this the hand she shoved her husband with back in Vietnam?

“If so, Charles was clearly busy charming it into submission.”

In a similarly familial gesture, Emmanuel went on to pat Charles’ upper arm “in a gesture of macho unity”.

The procession precedes tonight’s state banquet in which 160 guests will dine at Windsor Castle to celebrate the relationship between France and Britain.

Princess Kate and Prince William will both be in attendance for the fabulous event.

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